Online Course Authoring with Udutu

Udutu is a sophisticated online course authoring system that enables you to create highly interactive eLearning courses.

By using the mydutu tool, you can "design and implement online training and courses without any knowledge of technology". Being able to import existing PowerPoint presentations into your new course is an added bonus.

You can carry out quite extensive authoring as explained by Udutu: "In addition to conventional animation based interactivity templates it has a unique conditional branching capability that allows you to create complex scenarios, simulations, and remedial learning situations. It is a robust multimedia platform for a corporate training and development program. It supports all major types of graphic, sound, and video formats, and will automatically optimize any multimedia for the web without third party applications".

Interestingly, Udutu recommend a minimum screen resolution of 1024 x 768, although they do provide templates for 800 x 600 resolution.

Once completed, you can download the course as a zip file, which you can then easily install on your own server or copy to a CD. The course runs in a web browser.

Have a look at the 'Build Effective Online Courses' created by Udutu, which shows you just how a finished course works and also provides a great lesson about building effective online courses.

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 Technorati Tags: course authoring, elearning, udutu

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EduGames Galore!

Zaid has recently composed another great list of resources with his 75 free EduGames.

Zaid's post is about "exploring and discovering free educational games that could be useful to embed within or across courses (and programs) to spark more engagement, challenge, mystery, exploration, collaboration, problem-solving, decision making, imagination, fun and thinking into the learning process".

If you haven't done so then I would advise you to check it out now!!!

I haven't used all of them yet but I really like the ClassTools.net site. This one alone will keep you busy for ages. Also, the jQuizShow is a must if you like 'Who Wants to be a Millionaire'.

Zaid also promises to keep adding new Edugames to his Games Galore del.icio.us site. Definitely one to bookmark :-)

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Technorati Tags: edugames, educational games, flash

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Photobucket the One Stop Shop

Photobucket is an image and video hosting site. As well as hosting, Photobucket enables you to edit your images, including red eye fix, automatic fix, crop, rotate, resize, flip and change contrast. For the more adventurous, Photobucket also has a layers feature.

Slideshow creation, in three easy steps, is also available in Photobucket as well as video creation - in just five easy steps! The video creation is really fun with lots of built in features such as text, borders and music to add.

This is a little sample of a video created in Photobucket. Our College staff trip to Denmark this year. Can you identify the town we were in? :-)

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Technorati Tags: images, photos, photobucket, videos

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Broadcast Live with Ustream.tv

Ustream.TV is a live interactive video broadcast platform that enables anyone with a camera and an Internet connection to broadcast to a world wide audience of unlimited size. Simply create your own channel on Ustream or broadcast through your own site.

With Ustream's interactive broadcast functionality, your viewers can personally interact directly with you and each other through a built in chat facility.

Your broadcast is recorded and available for viewing at a later time, which is great if someone misses the live event. However, the most appealing thing, for me, is that you can catch the broadcast live and participate via the chat if you choose.

Ustream is another tool that has great potential for use in education. There are already many teachers taking advantage of this technology. Here's a great example of a broadcast that I viewed last week - an informative and very useful presentation on using Google Apps in the classroom.

 Produced and delivered by Kevin Jarrett. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

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Technorati Tags: google apps, interactive broadcast, interactive video, ustream.tv

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Play, Learn and Contribute!

The AidtoChildren.com is an interesting site where you can test and improve your vocabulary and at the same time contribute to one of the World Vision Canada causes.

At AidtoChildren.com, you are presented with a word and four different meanings. As well as getting some satisfaction from selecting the correct meaning, you also get to contribute 0.25c to World Vision Canada for each correct answer.

This contribution is made by the site's sponsors and runs through until 30th September 2008.

I'm not sure just how real the donations are or if they do go to the right place or not, as I am a bit of a cynic, but it is a great concept and the vocabulary testing game is definitely quite useful. 

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Technorati Tags: world vision canada

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The Photoshop Anthology - Free Download

Sitepoint are offering a time limited free PDF download of 'The Photoshop Anthology: 101 Web Design Tips, Tricks & Techniques.

The book, written by Corrie Haffly, is very comprehensive offering 9 complete chapters covering everything from the basics to advanced techniques. I particularly like the chapter that is devoted to designing a website.

Don't miss out. The offer ends in 25 days from now.........

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Technorati Tags: pdf, photoshop, the photoshop anthology

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Share Files Easily with Drop.io

Drop.io lets you create simple private exchange points on the Internet called 'drops'. This is a great little service for enabling temporary access to files.

Each drop is "private, and only as accessible as you choose to deliberately make it. Create multiple drops, add any type of media, and share or subscribe as you want".

You can choose to delete the drop from 1 day later up to 1 year later. You can also choose to allow your users to view only, view & add or view add & delete the 'drop'.

Drop.io is very flexible allowing you to create 'drops' using the web, email, voice, fax and widgets.

Give out the 'drop' address to your students and the whole class can access the file immediately at the same time.

Works a treat so long as it is not blocked on your schools network!! No surprises to hear that Drop.io is blocked on ours :-(

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Technorati Tags: drop.io, file sharing

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Online Copy Service for Mobiles

Qipit is a free mobile online copy service that has great potential for classroom use.

You just take a picture of your printouts, whiteboard or handwritten notes with your camera phone or digital camera and then send the image to Qipit, where it is turned into a digital copy (PDF).

As well as using your phone, you can also send the image via email or fax. Once uploaded the PDFs can be tagged for easy searching and sorting.

You can also publish and share the documents.

It even works with my humble Nokia 6234!! Read a great review of Qipit on Joe Wood's blog.

Update (13/5). Just discovered that Qipit also blog and tweet. Now that is the complete service ;-)
Update (7/11/09) . Free online service discontinuted as from 6th December 2009

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Technorati Tags: image, mobile, pdf, qipit,

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Colaborative Mind Mapping Online

MindMeister is a great site that enables "real-time collaboration to allow truly global brainstorming sessions".  In the 'brainstorming mode', you can work on the same mind map simultaneously with other MindMeister users - and see each other's changes as they occur.

Creating new maps is easy and you simply add your thoughts as they come to mind. As well as storing your mind maps online, you can also export them in various mind map formats (or even as a document outline or image file). And, you can also import existing mind maps into MindMeister.

'Widget Mania' is an example of one that Mike created and invited me to join in. Great fun and this one is not finished yet!

Here's one I made myself as part of my online course that I am completing at the moment.

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Technorati Tags: collaboration, mind mapping, mindmeister

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Store your Memories online!

Evernote is a place to store information for retrieving at a later date - anything from simple to-do lists to web pages, whiteboards and photos.

I've just started using it for my to-do lists and I really like it. Thanks Paul for finding Evernote.

There are lots of ways to record your information in Evernote including:
* Creating new notes using desktop, web, and mobile versions of Evernote
* Take a snapshot using your camera phone or webcam.
* Amazingly text is also recognized in the image!
* Clip entire web pages, screenshots, and just about anything else you can copy
* Drag and drop content into the desktop clients for Mac and Windows
* Email notes directly into your account using your personalized email address
* Scan receipts, recipes, tags, brochures, and anything else into Evernote
* Record audio wherever you are and listen to it whenever you want

Still not convinced, then have a look at this promotional video. If you want to sign up immediately, I have 5 invitations left. Just send an email to inchicorepd AT hotmail DOT com and I'll send on the invitation.

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Technorati Tags: evernote

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Easy Authoring with Dragster

Dragster 2 is a simple tool for creating "sophisticated drag and drop image labeling and categorisation activities".

Many "innovative features and rich feedback" are also incorporated in Dragster 2.

This is a great little tool, which does exactly what it says on the box!

After creating your activity, you download the required files (zip file) to your PC.

You can then edit the resulting html code to adjust the look of the flash player to match the colour of your website.

The final version can then be installed on your web server or in your VLE. Have a look at the Earths Structure to see just how well it works.

Found this thanks to Stephen and Scott.

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Technorati Tags: dragster, quiz, vle

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